Los Angeles Mission

How Russ Reid used a mix of social strategy and innovative storytelling to more than quadruple social media engagement for Los Angeles Mission.

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The Los Angeles Mission started as a small rescue and outreach center and steadily grew into one of the nation’s largest homeless service providers. To sustain its growth, the mission needs to stay engaged with its pillars of support: the community, charitable organizations, and friends who live farther afield. In practical terms, they need a strategic social media partner who can drive awareness around annual events, the biggest of which is #SkidRowThanksgiving (a meal held annually the day before Thanksgiving).

Russ Reid’s goal was simple—use 2015’s #SkidRowThanksgiving to help the Los Angeles Mission have its greatest social engagement ever (a barometer and bellwether for the overall health of the social strategy). First, we pored over data and results from the previous year and used what we found to refocus our strategy: position the Los Angeles Mission as an event host, featuring attendees as guests, and preparations as “behind-the-scenes” glimpses. The result was a cohesive story about an event with many rich layers: intriguing people, touching testimonies, new friendships, and a spirit of giving all rolled into one.